Pool-based system for organizing and measuring personalized financial management techniques

ABSTRACT

A system and method for a money pools system is presented. The money pools system includes a plurality of financial positions that are allocated to a plurality of pools. A category may be used to contain a grouping of pools. Multiple categories allow a user to view aggregated financial positions that are common to the multiple categories. New pools and categories may be created by a user, a financial institution, and/or a third party. Pool systems may also incorporate pool templates to facilitate the creation of pools. Pool templates may also be shared over a network of interconnected money pool systems.

This application is a continuation of and claims priority from U.S.application Ser. No. 11/342,509, filed Jan. 30, 2006.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates in general to financial planning, and moreparticularly, without limitation, to a computerized system and methodfor creating, organizing, managing, and/or tracking pool-based views offinancial positions.

As a person earns an income and progresses through life, she will fromtime to time be presented with life necessities or desires (i.e. goals)that will require her to spend more money than her periodic income maysupport. Examples of such expenditures might include a new car, college,an engagement ring, a home, a child's college education, and retirement.

Periodically depositing money into an interest-bearing savings accountis one way to set aside funds, but most people typically invest at leastsome portion of their savings. Such investments might include higherrisk investments that offer higher returns or low-risk investments thatoffer lower returns.

How an investor chooses to allocate money among a number of lifetimeexpenditures may depend on many factors, such as the investor'spersonality (e.g. organized, spontaneous, etc.), the investor's periodicincome and accumulated savings, the nature and relative costs of thegoals (e.g. extravagant versus adequate), and knowledge of financialplanning concepts. Based on these factors, some investors may take an adhoc approach, such as funding an expenditure as it arises by using themost liquid investment in the investor's portfolio, while others mighttake a slightly more measured approach that is planned years in advance.For example, an investor may decide that savings in a 401k plan are tobe used only for retirement, and nothing else. Others may retain afinancial planner from a financial institution for professional help inplanning expenditures and investments to meet those plannedexpenditures.

For the most part, the financial services industry has created astandard process by which a financial plan is created for individualinvestors. The process typically consists of investors gathering alltheir financial data, describing all their financial goals, andindicating their appetite for risk. From this data, a complete financialplan can be generated and an investment portfolio can be created totarget the investor's goals and risk profile.

While such a plan may be the ideal situation (assuming the investmentsmeet expectations), in reality there exists a large base of prospectivecustomers that will never go through the financial planning process asdefined by financial institutions. Many investors are not willing totake the time or energy involved with gathering all financial data,planning all goals, and determining risk comfort levels. Moreover, manyinvestors are unwilling to relinquish control of their investmentportfolio to a third party, and even if they use the financial planningprocess they still have a difficult time understanding performance oftheir money relative to the plan and the process. Therefore, there is agap between the ideal process and the process that the majority ofinvestors actually use to manage and track investments.

The following are observations about the financial planning process formany typical investors:

-   -   Many investors are only concerned with a single financial goal,        or have limited time and want to focus on a small number of        goals and will not allocate time for a lengthy financial        planning process.    -   The financial planning process is intimidating for many        investors.    -   Many individuals will continue to choose and implement their own        investment/debt strategies.    -   For every financial position there is a reason why the        investor/entity placed their money in that position. Many        individual investment/debt strategies are implemented without        rigorous analysis and may not be suited to a particular        investor/entity. Most of these are not well defined and/or not        monitored for performance over time.    -   Most investors that use a financial advisor for all or part of        their money do not have an easy interface to obtain a real-time        update on their advisor's performance and/or progress toward        achievement of their financial plan.    -   Many investors will not use financial advisors because they do        not trust them, and are not sure how to measure their        effectiveness.

These observations, if true, indicate that traditional financialplanning may never be utilized by some types of investors and can befurther enhanced for those investors that utilize the traditionalprocess. For these investors, alternative solutions to financialplanning may be attractive. It is also important to note that theseobservations not only affect an investor, but they also apply tofinancial institutions who desire to provide financial services to aninvestor. Additionally, these observations apply to other relatedcompanies, such as financial software providers, that desire to providefinancial tools to investors.

Accordingly, an alternative financial planning strategy should take intoaccount the following assumptions:

-   -   Some planning is better than none. If an exhaustive financial        plan is not undertaken, there is still a benefit to identifying        one goal and tracking progress toward that one goal. More goals        can be added later, allowing a plan to be built incrementally        over time.    -   Investors will continue to develop and implement their own money        management strategies with a wide range of sophistication.        Performance tracking can help to show new investors any errors        in their money management process and/or capabilities. Providing        an effortless way to assign and track the reason(s) for        investing will provide helpful feedback that the entity can use        to modify their money management practices to benefit their        financial status.    -   All levels of investors from the most basic to a very        sophisticated investor can benefit from a more personalized        system for organizing and tracking their money Goal oriented        investors may want to be able to create simple life goals and        track the utility of their financial assets relative to        achievement of stated goals, goals which in many cases are not        well understood in terms of financial assets. As a first        example, consider an investor that wants to be able to pay for        college for her two children. As a strategy oriented investor,        she may have target incomes, returns and performance standards        she is trying to achieve, and may be employing multiple types of        trading strategies to achieve target returns. These types of        investors are trying to find and employ strategies that are        successful relative to the market, and/or absolutely successful        relative to a target return level. As a second example, consider        an investor who subscribes to a newsletter or magazine in which        an investment advisor recommends five stocks as her top picks        for the year. The investor may want to track those picks and        determine if that advisor provides an adequate rate of return        over time. At a higher level, the investor may want to track an        aggregate of all third party picks against their own picks, or        against the traditional market benchmarks over time. This will        help the investor understand if they are better off using        outside recommendations or their own ideas. Ultimately for the        majority of intended users, it may be ideal to integrate and        track life goals with dynamically changing investment and        savings strategies over time. So in an ideal case, an investor        may create multiple life goals and employ multiple strategies to        try and achieve those goals.

Once life goals are established, investment performance necessary toachieve goals can be derived in order to define the utility of thefinancial assets relative to the goals. It is therefore 5 advantageousin tracking goals to understand how well investments are performing sothat corrective action can be taken to improve the likelihood that goalsare achieved. Additionally and/or alternatively, for investors focusedon investment strategies, it is important to track the success ofstrategies over time so an investor is able to discard strategies thatare not successful. It would be desirable to have a system that allowsusers to track performance of one or more personalized life goals inisolation, or as aggregated with a larger hierarchy and/or cloud ofgoals and strategies. An instance of this grouping and tracking can becalled a Money Pool. Ideally, the system would be able to address thecompounded problem that may occur when financial positions aredistributed in whole or part across multiple accounts at one or morefinancial institutions.

Some financial institutions and related companies provide web basedapplications that allow individuals to track financial positions byaccount and in some cases aggregated across accounts at that institutionand outside institutions. These interfaces allow for tracking of gainsand losses on financial positions. There may also be financial planningtools to help individuals analyze their financial position and potentialto achieve goals like retirement income and college expenses.

However, what the financial institution and existing applications failto provide to an investor is the ability to create, categorize, store,and monitor separate personalized hierarchies and/or clouds of moneypools consisting not by accounts but by goals/purposes,strategies/tactics, entities/beneficiaries, and tax-status, for example,against which financial positions can be applied in whole or part.Furthermore, there are no multiple hierarchies and/or clouds of moneypools consisting of goals/purposes, strategies/tactics,entities/beneficiaries, and tax-status, that can be applied acrossfinancial positions in multiple accounts at one institution, or acrossmultiple accounts at multiple institutions.

A separate personalized hierarchy and/or cloud of money pools wouldallow financial institutions and advisors to better understand theircustomers' needs, both as individuals and in aggregate. Therefore, alsolacking in the art is a higher-level monitoring tool to allow financialinstitutions, employers, and other entities to track money pools createdby an institution and provided to large numbers of investors, in orderto provide improved services to would-be investors. Such improvedservices could include, for example, a new investment offeringconsisting of a portfolio of investments that other users havesuccessfully associated with pools for college education targeted at aspecific time horizon. Furthermore, a financial institution could trackthird party investment strategies they introduce to investors and eveninvestor create strategies and integrate those into their money poolsystem so that other entities could use them as money pool templates. Itwould be desirable if such templates were pre-defined, perhaps by afinancial institution or other third party. In addition, it would bedesirable if these templates could be activated in a variety ways.

It would also be desirable if a personalized pool based system fororganizing and tracking financial positions could provide access to alarge network of pools and pool templates created and/or managed by anunlimited number of financial institutions, third party financialexperts, social networking communities and other investors. Such anetwork would provide an investor with the ability to search and filterthe available universe of pool templates based on personalized criteriathat would include but not be limited to, time horizon, purpose, style,risk scores, etc. Pool templates selected from the network by theinvestor could be implemented within investor owned accounts at theinvestor's financial institution's system of record by the investor orby outside parties. The pool network could be maintained by a financialinstitution or independent third party.

Thus, it would be desirable to have a computerized system and method forcreating, adopting, subscribing to, managing, measuring and trackingmoney pools and money pool templates, to improve the financial planningand money management processes for individuals and entities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described withreference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram illustrating interfaces andcomponents associated with a Pool-based System for Organizing andMeasuring Personalized Financial Management Techniques;

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram and associated pictorial diagram of a methodof operating a Pool-based System for Organizing and MeasuringPersonalized Financial Management Techniques;

FIG. 1C is another flow diagram and associated pictorial diagram of amethod of operating a Pool-based System for Organizing and MeasuringPersonalized Financial Management Techniques;

FIGS. 2A-M are relational diagrams showing an example of a poolstructure for a plurality of accounts held at a plurality of financialinstitutions;

FIG. 3 is an interface for allocating financial purposes;

FIG. 4A-I are diagrams illustrating example interfaces; and FIGS. 5A-Eare diagrams illustrating institution generated reports.

SUMMARY

A Pool-based System for Organizing and Measuring Financial ManagementTechniques and method of operation is presented. In one embodiment, thepool system includes a plurality of financial positions that areallocated to a plurality of pools. A first category may contain a firstplurality of pools. A second category may contain a second plurality ofpools. A first portion of the financial positions is allocated to afirst pool within the first plurality of pools. A second portion of thefinancial positions is allocated to a second position within the secondplurality of pools. The first and second portions overlap in that theyshare at least one financial position, allowing a user to viewaggregated financial positions that are common to the first and secondcategories. A third pool may be subsequently created. The third pool maycontain of variety of combination selected from the plurality of poolsand the plurality of financial positions.

In another embodiment, a pool and/or a category is derived from a pooltemplate. The template can then be shared over a pool system network.The pool system network includes a plurality of networked local poolsystems.

These as well as other aspects and advantages will become apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detaileddescription, with reference where appropriate to the accompanyingdrawings. Further, it is understood that this summary is merely anexample and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the principles ofthe present invention can be applied, it should be understood that theillustrated embodiments are examples only, and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the present invention. In some of the describedembodiments below a user or investor is described, it is understoodhowever, that the described embodiments are not limited to being used bya single “investor” or “user”. It should be apparent in the art that awide of variety of users may implement the described embodiments.

A Pool-Based System for Organizing and Measuring Financial ManagementTechniques

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a Pool-based Systemfor Organizing and Measuring Financial Management Techniques 10,according to one embodiment of the present invention. The system 10includes a money pools server 12 that an entity 14 may access through auser interface 16. For example, the entity 14 may be an individualinvestor or an investment advisor working to assist an individualinvestor. The user interface 16 is preferably a web-based clientapplication miming on a computer that communicates with the server 12over an Internet connection. Other implementations are also possible forthe user interface 16, such as a hard-wired network terminal located atthe same facility that houses the money pools server 12. The userinterface 16 will preferably include at least a graphical user interface(GUI) to enable visual communications with the entity 14 and acommunication pathway (wired or wireless) between the entity 14 and theserver 12. Such a communication pathway should be secured usingencryption and/or other known network security mechanisms.

The server 12 can be in communication with one or more accounts 18affiliated with one or more institutions and/or accounts 18 can bemodeled and input into the server 12 by the entity 14 via the userinterface 16. For example, the entity 14 may have financial assetsmaintained in N accounts affiliated with M institutions. The accounts 18may include savings accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts,debts and other accounts for tracking financial assets or instruments.The institutions maintaining the accounts 18 may include banks,brokerages, online trading companies, employers, and others.Communications between the server 12 and the accounts 18 are preferablymade via a secure Internet connection, but may also be via a hard-wireddirect connection, for example.

The server 12 may also be in communication with one or more institutions20 that may access the server 12 (and possibly other money pools serverslike the server 12) to track and/or to manage pool information for aplurality of entities like the entity 14. These institutions 20 may bethe same as or different from the institutions with which the accounts18 are affiliated. For example, institutions 20 may include corporationsthat monitor their employee's 401k investments in similarly situatedpools defined by life goals and/or investment strategy. Communicationsbetween the server 12 and the institutions 20 are preferably made via asecure Internet connection, but may also be via a hard-wired directconnection, for example.

To provide pool-based management and monitoring functions, the server 12preferably includes a director 22, a user interface 24, an accountinterface 26, an institution interface 28, a pool accounting function30, a default pool function 32, and a reports function 34.

The director 22 preferably makes use of one or more processors tocoordinate communications internal and external to the server 12 and torun software to allow entities 14 to create, manage, and/or track moneypools. The director 22 may also run software to allow the institution totrack and/or manage pool information for a plurality of entities. In analternative embodiment, the director 22 comprises hardware and/orfirmware, instead of or in addition to processor(s) running software.

The user interface 24 preferably includes hardware and software routinesthat the server 12 uses for communicating with the user interface 16 tothe entity 14. For example, the user interface 24 may include aconnection to the Internet and a network protocol stack for sendingmessages to and receiving messages from the entity 14 accessing theserver 12 through the user interface 16.

The account interface 26 preferably includes hardware and softwareroutines that the server 12 uses for communicating with the accounts 18.For example, the account interface 26 may include a connection to theInternet and a network protocol stack for sending messages to andreceiving messages from the accounts 18. Because the accounts 18 arelikely to be stored in one or more databases, a database access utilitymay be present at the institution(s) maintaining the accounts 18. If theserver 12 is affiliated with the same institution that maintains theaccounts 18, then the account interface 26 may include database accessfunctionality as well.

The institution interface 28 preferably includes hardware and softwareroutines that the institutions 20 use for communicating with the server12. For example, the institution interface 28 may include a connectionto the Internet and a network protocol stack for sending messages to andreceiving messages from the institutions 20.

The pool accounting functionality 30 stores and updates informationassociated with pools created by or for the entity 14 in a database 31.For example, the pool accounting function 30 may include periodic orreal-time updating of prices and quantities of financial assets owned bythe entity 14. Such price and quantity information may be receiveddirectly from financial markets, from institutions that maintain theaccounts 18, or from another source. Other data that may be periodicallyor updated in real-time from various sources are risk scores/ratings,asset classification data, updated account information from third partyaggregation services, etc. Additionally, the pool accountingfunctionality includes tracking and processing fees for pool systemaccess and/or template activation/usage from credit card companies,PayPal and similar services, ACH, etc.

The default pools function 32 includes default passive pools, poolmonitors and pool models and may be included to assist in pool planningand in identifying trends in pools created by entities, according to apreferred embodiment. As one example, the default pools function 32 maybe a predetermined set of pools for common life goals, such as collegeplanning, purchase of a second home, etc. As another example, defaultpools could be dynamically created by identifying similar pools createdby different entities using the money pools system 10. If severalhundred entities each create a “child's college” money pool, and a fewdozen of those several hundred assign an index fund (e.g. S&P 500index), then the default pools function might create a default pool thatothers can use to plan for college as other investors have. Defaultpools can also be offered as pool models of more complex bundles ofpools that address a hierarchy of both purposes and tactics pre-definedfor the basic user. Institutions can create pool templates and enablefor entities default passive pools and pool monitors.

The reports function 34 can be used to create reports for the entity 14to allow the entity 14 to manage and track pool performance. As oneexample, the entity 14 could bundle all tactic pools created to trackthird party experts that were used to invest money. In aggregate entity14 could look at a report showing how all the experts did over amulti-year period and then view one expert specifically as part of theanalysis. In addition, in some embodiments, the reports function 34 maybe used to create reports for the institutions 20. Reports for theinstitutions 20 may include aggregate pool information for poolsattributed to many entities. As one example, the institutions could viewa multi-year report showing how all the institution's recommended poolswere adopted and how they performed. To create reports, the reportsfunction 34 should preferably have access to relative performanceindicators, such as market moving averages, averages of funds in similarsectors, and others.

Allocating Financial Positions to Pools

FIG. 1B is a flow diagram and an associated pictorial diagramillustrating a method 100 of how an entity may manage financialpositions using money pools and the system 10 described above or asimilar such system. The entity may have accounts held at severalinstitutions. Using system 10, the entity may access some or all of theaccounts held at each the institution. Each account has one or morefinancial positions associated with it. Each financial position may havean associated financial position descriptor, unit of measure descriptor,and an associated quantity. A financial position may be a financialinstrument such as a stock, a bond, a mutual fund, an option position,cash, a collectable, and a real estate holding. A financial position mayalso be a financial liability such as a mortgage. In addition, thefinancial positions may be available publicly or privately. At step 102,a plurality of financial positions 104 is stored in the system 10.

At step 106, a portion 108 of the financial positions 104 is allocatedto a pool 110 associated within a category 112. The category 112 itselfmay be viewed as a pool as it contains pools that share an investmentreason such a tactic/strategy, a tax status, person/entity,purpose/goal, or a liability type, for example. Category 112 may be atactic/strategy category. If so, it may contain pools having poolreasons that are (a) based on the recommendation of a financial advisor,(b) financial positions based on the recommendation of a publication,and (c) financial positions based on a financial instrument ratingsystem, for example. Pool 110 could be a pool associated with arecommendation of a friend of this particular entity's money poolsinstance. The pool 110 is located within a plurality of pools 114. Eachpool within the plurality of pools 114 may include up 100% of aparticular financial position. Overall, these pool reasons may bedetermined by a user, a financial institution, or a third party thatdesigned a particular pool system instance. Other example categories andassociated pool reasons are illustrated in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Example categories and pool reasons for pools contained in acategory Category Pool Reasons Tax status a) a non-taxable status b) ataxable status c) a tax-deferred status Person/entity a) family memberb) a child c) a business d) a household Purpose/goal a) targeted for acollege expenditure b) targeted for a wedding expenditure c) targetedfor retirement Liability a) a loan b) an interest payment c) a financialloss

At step 116, portion 118 of financial positions 104 is designated topool 120, which is located in a different plurality of pools 122. Thesepools are associated with a different category 124. In designating thesecond portion, some financial positions are now designated inside ofpools in both categories. This allows a user to view at least one poolselected from the plurality of pools 114 with respect to at least onepool selected from the plurality of pools 122 via aggregated financialpositions that are common to the plurality of pools 114 and 122. In thisexample, a user may view, or monitor, a pool from different aspects. Oneaspect may be a tax status as described above; a second aspect may be aliability (i.e., category 124), for example. Performance metrics mayalso be viewed by such aspects.

At step 126, pool 128 is created. Pool 128 includes pool 110 as well asfinancial positions located in portion 130. Another pool located in theplurality of pools 114 may contain all of the financial positionslocated in portion 130. Alternatively, portion 130 may contain somefinancial positions not located in any of the plurality of pools 114. Inaddition, portion 130 may contain financial positions which are notlocated in other pools except pool 128. All of the financial positionslocated in the third pool, however, share a common pool reason.

At step 134, more pools may be added. FIG. 1C illustrates a flow diagramand an associated pictorial diagram illustrating a method 140 of addinganother pool. At step 142, after determining that another pool is to beadded, pool 144 is created. Pool 144 contains pools 120 and 146, andtherefore includes all of the financial positions located in both ofthese pools.

At step 148, more pools may be added by referring back to step 142. Asdescribed above, categories may in fact be viewed as pools. Pool 150,which is a category, is added at step 142. Pool 150 contains portions152 of financial positions 104. Portion 152 includes financial positionslocated in portions 108, 118, and 130 as well financial positions notlocated within these portions. Other examples of categories, associatedpool reasons, and higher level pool reason bundles are illustrated inTable 2.

TABLE 2 Additional example categories and pool reasons for poolscontained in a category Category Pool Reasons Pool Reasons Person/entitya) a 1^(St) child a) All Children contains b) a 2^(nd) child (a) and (b)c) a 1^(St) business b) All businesses contains d) a 2^(nd) business (c)and (d) Purpose/goal a) targeted for a college a) targeted for allcollege expenditure child 1 expenditures. Contains (a), b) targeted fora college (b), and (c) expenditure child 2 c) targeted for a collegeexpenditure Graduate school Tactic a) Advisor #2 a) 3^(rd) PartyExperts, b) Magazine top 10 contains (a), (b), (c) c) Mutual Fund FiveStar b) My Picks, contains d) My hot picks (d), (e) e) My technology

One way for financial institutions and third parties to facilitateimplementation of the pool system and products and services that addressthe demands of the pool system users is to provide pre-defined pooltemplates. Pool templates may be based on expected commonly demandedreasons in each of the categories, strategic/tactical, goal/purpose, taxstatus, and entity/beneficiary, and are available to become active poolswhen an investor assigns financial positions to an available template.As an example, in the strategy/tactic category a financial institutionmight have pool templates named Investment Magazine Picks, orInstitution's High Rated Stocks. An entity can activate these pooltemplates into personal, active pool instances by to selecting a pooltemplate or set of pool templates and assigning financial positions. Anentity will benefit from the pool template's pre-defined performanceanalysis data and associated analytic capabilities. In addition, suchpool templates can automatically associate the newly activated pool withother pre-defined pools in a larger hierarchy that allows an entity toautomatically create the framework for a pool-based financial plan withthe assignment of limited financial positions into one active poolinstance.

As described above, a template may be created by a financial institutionor other third party. Templates may be included in the default poolsfunction 32. Templates can include a hierarchy and/or a cloud of poolsand bundle pools across multiple categories. The system 10 may receivefrom a pool system network or have created within it predetermined poolmodels and/or category models that may be activated by a user. Afinancial institution or pool system provider may receive a payment forsuch activation. In addition, a template may be created and managed by auser. Alternatively, a template may be created and managed by a thirdparty or a financial institution.

Another way that a template may be activated in the system 10 is by theuse of a pool monitor. The pool monitor may monitor the system 10 via anetwork or it may be embedded within a pool system instance. Passiveallocations of financial positions to a particular pool or category maybe determined by the pool monitor. The pool monitor may use a variety ofstrategies to determine appropriate allocations. For example, the poolmonitor may be derived from an investment strategy that a particularfinancial institution describes to a pool monitor system. Theseallocations may be allocated by the pool monitor itself or upon a user'sdesire to implement or activate the monitor. The pool monitor may run inthe background of the system 10 and may not become available until theuser desires to use a pool derived by the pool monitor, for example.

Templates may also be distributed to a network of pool systems. In apool system network, users, financial institutions, and other thirdparties may use and evaluate received templates; new templates may becreated based on old templates; or entirely new templates may be createdand subsequently shared. In addition, a user may be able to input searchparameters to search the local pool system instance and/or a pool systemnetwork for a desired pool model that suites their needs. Some poolsystem networks may require a subscription fee for accessing, receiving,or searching for a particular template. Such a pool system network mayalso be administered by a variety of entities.

Associating Life Goals and Investment Strategies with Pools

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating how a user may manage herfinances using money pools and the system 10 described above. Usingsystem 10, the user may access some or. all of the accounts held at eachinstitution. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2B, user 14 mayevaluate institutions 201-203 and accounts 211-218 (via user interface24 and account interface 26). Each account has one or more financialpositions associated with it. As described above, a financial positionmay be shares of stock, a mutual fund, or other type of investment, forexample. An account may also have or consist of only one financialposition, such as CD 216, CD 217, and savings account 218.

The user may have invested in a financial position for a variety ofreasons. These reasons include, perceived risk/return assessment, advicefrom a financial advisor, a financial strategy (such as Validea), amagazine pick, and/or advice from a friend. The reasoning for investingin each position is often varied and changes over time. The user mayhave been inexperienced when she first opened her accounts; however, asshe grows in experience, she may become more savvy. Initial investmentstrategies may develop into different strategies over time. System 10,therefore, allows a user to track her investment strategy and easilydetermine why a financial position was purchased. This allows the user,who may have been intimidated by the overwhelming number of availablestrategies, to gauge performance of financial positions within astrategy. The user can gradually adapt system 10 to her preferences.

System 10 may be used for a wide spectrum of entities that range fromorganized to spontaneous, having financial management strategies thatvary from marginally adequate to complex and sophisticated. System 10achieves this adaptation by using tactical and purpose pools. Afinancial position is allocated to a tactical pool within a tacticscategory. The same financial position may also be allocated to a purposepool within a purpose category. A tactical pool may represent a strategythat the user may associate with a financial position. A purpose poolmay represent a life goal that the user may also want to associate witha financial position.

Illustrated in FIG. 2C are tactical summary pool 240 and purpose summarypool 242. Tactical summary pool 240 contains tactical pools 251-255.Purpose summary pool 242 contains purpose pools 261-265. Tactics andpurposes are examples of pool categories.

Because users employ a variety of strategies, the tactical pools allow auser to group her financial positions based on a particular investmentstrategy. This allows the user to track the reasoning behind aparticular financial position. For example, in FIG. 2D, the user may befamiliar with “tech” stocks 221-223, “chocolate” stock 226, “auto”stocks 227 and 230, blended mutual fund 233, aggressive mutual fund 234,CD 216, and savings account 218. The user may group these financialpositions into the risk/return tactical pool 251 based on the user's ownassessment of these financial positions. Further, by being able tocreate pools of pools, a user has great flexibility to organize tacticsin sub-groups that will help understand the success of a broaderapproach. For example, an user wants to understand how their own stockpick ideas fair against third party experts. Under each pool, user ideasand third party ideas might be a number of more refined tactic pools.But being able to group them at the higher level allows for a betterunderstanding regarding the user's own capabilities.

In FIG. 2E, the risk/return assessment tactical pool 251 containsfinancial positions 221-223, 226, 227, 230, 233, 234, 216, and 218. Eachfinancial position is further grouped into a sub-tactical pool based ona position's risk and return value. In other examples, additionalsub-tactical pools may be added to increase the possible groupings offinancial positions.

In FIG. 2F, the user may have been advised by a financial advisor thattech mutual fund 231 is a reliable long term investment. The sameadvisor may also predict that Ghirardelli 225 anticipates recordValentine's Day sales; it may be a good short term investment. Theadvisor tactical pool 252 contains both of these financial positions.Also shown in FIG. 2F, is a Third Party Experts pool 256, and theremaining advisor 252, Validea 253, magazine 254, and recommendation 255tactical pools which are filled with financial positions. The advisor252, Validea 253, magazine 254, and recommendation 255 tactical poolsare “sub”-tactical pools when viewed via the Third Party Experts 256pool. The Third Party Experts pool 256 may be used to aggregateperformance of all third party experts 252-255. The user will be able tosee the performance any time of the group, as well as track a long-termhistorical performance with multiple experts that might include thirdparty experts that are terminated from time to time as well. The ThirdParty Experts pool 256 may have been created prior to or subsequent tothe creation of any of the advisor 252, Validea 253, magazine 254, andrecommendation 255 tactical pools.

A Validea strategy (Validea tactical pool 253) may suggest “auto” stocks228 and 229 and Hershey's chocolate 224. The user may not initially becomfortable with using Validea tactical pool 253. The user may allocatea limited number of financial positions initially, evaluate how well thestrategy works, and allocate more financial positions at a later time.

A financial magazine (magazine tactical pool 254) may suggest aconservative mutual fund 235 for a long term investment and a medicalmutual fund 232 for a quick return. These two financial positions may bethe top picks in the magazine. The user could allocate more or fewerfinancial positions after evaluating the performance of the magazine'spicks.

A friend of the user may have had a good experience and recommended CD217 (recommendation tactical pool 255). Again, this financial positioncould be isolated to a tactical pool so that it may be tracked byitself.

Using the tactical pools 251-255, the user may also determine aparticular purpose pool that a financial position should be placed in.FIG. 2G illustrates purpose pools associated with purpose summary pool242. The purpose pools in this example include retirement 261, college262, vacation 263, yacht 264, and mortgage payoff 265.

Because some of these purposes may be more important than others, theuser may use an investment strategies associated with a tactical pool toguide her allocation of financial positions to purpose pools. Forexample, owning a yacht (purpose pool 264) may be a less important lifegoal than providing college tuition (purpose pool 262) for the user'schildren.

FIG. 2H illustrates allocation of positions to the college and yachtpurpose pools 262 and 264. Because the yacht purpose pool 264 is not asimportant as others, an user may look to the riskier tactical pools whenallocating financial positions to this pool. The yacht purpose pool 264may include stock for AMD 223 and aggressive mutual fund 234. The usermay allocate safer investments (e.g. non-tech stocks) to the collegepurpose pool 262. In this example, the user has allocated half of hershares in the Validea tactical pool 253. Additionally, she has alsoinvested low risk financial positions CD 216 and saving 218.

FIG. 21 illustrates other positions allocated to the other purposepools. Notice that not all of the positions have been allocated to apurpose. The user may not have a purpose for a particular financialposition or investment strategy. For example, the user may want toevaluate Ghirardelli 225, which is in the advisor pool 252, for a periodof time before she allocates it to a purpose pool.

An example interface 320 for designating a tactical pool and a purposepool is illustrated in FIG. 3. An account pull-down menu 322 may be usedto select an account. The position listing 324 lists the financialpositions held in an account. An user may select a financial positionand designate a tactical pool by using tactical menu 326. Becauseentities typically always have a reason for investing, when a newaccount or financial position is introduced to-system 10, tactical menu326 may open and prompt the investor to select a tactical pool for thefinancial position. In the example of FIG. 3, position listing 324 alsoincludes a motivation column 328. Motivation column 328 may be used todistribute a particular financial position to two or more tacticalpools. For example, an user may have derived her strategy from anadvisor and a magazine pick. Additionally this interface will providethe user with the ability to create a new previously unnamed tacticaland/or purpose pools.

The user also has the option of assigning positions to purpose pools.This can be done after assigning to strategy pools or can be done priorto or in the absence of creating any tactical pools. A purpose menu 330is available and prompts a user to designate a purpose for the financialposition. If the user desires to designate a purpose at a later time,she may use the purpose menu 330 at any time to designate a purpose orchange a purpose.

Interface 320 is not limited to the above configurations. A variety ofinterfaces may be provided at different times so that an user mayallocate or change allocations of a financial position to a tacticalpool or purpose pool. For example, an additional column may be added tothe position listing 324 that corresponds to the number of shares orpercentage of a stock, CD, or mutual fund to a particular tactical pooland/or purpose pool. Additional interfaces for creating and evaluatingpools are further described with reference to FIGS. 4A-Z.

Turning now to FIG. 2J, the user has acquired accounts 219 and 220 at anew institution 204. The user has had Garmin 239 stock recommended tohim, she believes that “chocolate” stocks 236 and 237 are going tocontinue to be in demand, and her financial advisor has recommendedMotorola 238 as a good long term investment. Additionally, the Valideatactical pool 253 has been successful; consequently, she would liketore-allocate IBM 222 to the Validea tactical pool 253.

FIG. 2K illustrates the new distribution of financial positions withintactical pools 251-255. The user has allocated new financial positionsto tactical pools and has also re-distributed some of her existingfinancial positions. By viewing the tactical pools, the user may easilyrecollect her investment strategy. Additionally, financial positions arenot restricted to a limited set of tactical pools. New tactical poolsmay be created and, as described above, a financial position may bedistributed to more than one financial pool. A percentage of shares maybe distributed to two or more tactical pools.

The user may also re-assess her purpose pools. In FIG. 2L, because ofpoor performance, the user has removed the aggressive mutual fund 234from the yacht purpose pool 264. She has placed Garmin 239 in its stead,which she hopes will offset losses due to the aggressive mutual fund264. She has also re-distributed IBM 222 to her retirement 261 andcollege 262 purpose pools. In IBM's 222 place, she has placed Mars 236and Godiva 237. Motorola 238 has been placed in the payoff mortgagetactical pool 265 in order to accelerate her early mortgage payoff lifegoal.

If the user is not very experienced or would like suggestions as to thetactical pool that she should invest in, she may also use the defaultpools 32 feature of system 10. FIG. 2M illustrates default tactical 270and purpose 272 summary pools. Default tactical summary pool 270contains investment strategies A 273 and B 274, as well as institutionstrategy 275. Default purpose summary pool 272 contains genericretirement 276, college 277, and car 278 purpose pools.

The investment strategy A 273 and B 274 tactical pools may be investmentphilosophies that an user can evaluate. If an user chooses to, she mayoptimize or incorporate them into tactical pool summary 240. Aninstitution may also have a default tactical pool associated with thefinancial positions it has. For example, institution 202 may offertactical pools associated with the mutual funds it offers.

The generic pools contained in the default purpose summary pool 272 mayhave generic life goals that can be adapted to an user's interests. Forexample, the car purpose pool 278 may be adapted to the type of car thatthe user would like to purchase. An user may be prompted, via a defaultinterface, to enter information into the car purpose pool 278 such asdown payment, anticipated monthly car and insurance payments, etc.

The reports 34 functionality is used to evaluate tactical pools and/orpurpose pools. The user may use reports 34 to gauge if an investmentstrategy or life goal is on target. For example, reports 34 may generatea report for the third party expert pool 256 described above.Periodically the user would be understanding at multiple levels if thethird party experts she picked were effective as a group and each ontheir own. This would be especially effective when the user can lookback over a period of years and see the aggregate result that tracks thegood and bad, expired and current tactics bundled as a higher leveltactic. Another report may be generated to track the Validea 253tactical pool. The generated reports may be customized to displaypertinent information that the user would like to track. In oneembodiment, the report may be updated as often as the user would like. Avariety of information related to all of the purpose and tactical poolsmay be gathered and generated for the user.

Another interface that is included in the example of FIG. 2A isinstitution interface 28. This interface allows an institution, such asa bank or a securities company, to assess the financial positions thatit offers its customers. The system 10 may be configured so that itallows an institution to evaluate financial positions against purposepools, for example. The user may inform the institution that a purposepool is designated for a college fund by an electronic survey, forexample. Alternatively, the user may use generic college purpose pool277. In both of these examples, the institution may be able to surveythe success of all its financial positions that have been directed tocollege fund purposes for some or all of its customers.

The institution may also evaluate its investment strategy by tacticalpools. For example, the institution may be able to evaluate how manyinvestors have successfully used their investment strategy by surveyingthe customers using institution tactical pool 275. A variety ofstatistics related to both purpose pools and tactical for a limited setor expanded set of customers and investors may be achieved using theinstitution interface 28. Example reports that may be generated by aninstitution related to purpose and tactical pools will be furtherdescribed with reference to FIGS. 5A-X.

A Preferred Interface for Creating and Evaluating Pools

FIG. 4A shows a modified version of a typical prior art screen display4100 that an investor might see when logging into a computerizedinvestment account, such as an online account with an electronic tradingcompany. The display 4100 is a traditional portfolio view for one of theinvestor's accounts 4102 (the account named “Account #844”). Atraditional portfolio grid 4104 shows the position, number of shares,price, value of the holding, cost of the holding, and gain/loss and maypresent additional options such as trading the holding or viewing achart of the holding.

The screen display 4100 has been modified from typical prior art screendisplays to include a money pool view button 4106. By pressing thisbutton 4106, the investor may proceed to a different screen display,such as the ones described below.

FIG. 4B shows a screen display 4200 that may appear with the investorpresses the button 4106 from the portfolio view display 4100. Thedisplay 4200 includes four main portions: a money pools listing 4202, anaccounts map 4204, an account summary section 4206, and an accounts toolsection 4208.

In the example of FIG. 4B, the money pools listing 4202 shows only poolscorresponding to accounts. Accounts #844, #845, #846, #222, and #223 areshown in the money pools listing 4202. As described above, theseaccounts may be maintained at or by one or more financial institutions.For example, accounts #844, #845, and #846 may be maintained by onefinancial institution, while accounts #222 and #223 may be maintained bya completely separate, unrelated financial institution. In the exampleshown, account #844 has been highlighted, so that other portions of thescreen display 4200 include information corresponding to account #844.

The accounts map 4204 shows a graphical representation of the relativevalues of various pools, which are account values in the example shown.Account #844 is the largest account, with a current value of $210,000and a gain (e.g. daily gain) of $2,300. Account #845 has a value of$120,000, with a gain of $500. Accounts #846, #222, and #223 haverespective values of $90,000, $30,000, and $23,000. While account #223has a gain of $325, accounts #846 and #222 have losses of $475 and $50,respectively. The accounts map 4204 can be color-coded to show gainsversus losses graphically. For example gains could be displayed inshades of green (with darker shades corresponding to higher gains),while losses could be displayed in shades of red. Gains and losses couldbe determined based on a variety of time, bases or by reference to theprice at which positions were purchased, for example. Note that account#844 is highlighted by a bold frame because it is selected in the moneypools listing 4202.

The account summary section 4206 shows the financial positions held inaccount #844. The information presented in the example shown includesposition, performance, number of shares, price, value, cost, gain/loss,and risk. Risk may be an attribute assigned by the financial institutionmaintaining the account, for example. Other risk assignment techniquesmay alternatively be utilized. Such as an investor's perceivedrisk/return assessment as described with reference to FIGS. 2D and 2E.

The account tools section 4208 allows a variety of analysis tools to bepresented to the viewer of the screen display 4200. In the exampleshown, graphs corresponding to asset allocation, return, and risk arepresented. Other examples of tools include trading gains (or losses),dividends and/or interest, and transfers into or out of the pool shown.In the example of FIG. 4B, tools for account #844 are illustrated. Theseanalysis tools may be generated by the reports 34 functionality ofsystem 10.

FIG. 4C shows a screen display 4300 with life goals functionality. Thelife goals correspond to the purpose pools that an investor has setup.The screen display 4300 includes a money pools listing 4302, a pools map4304, a pools map legend 4306, and a pools summary 4308. In the exampleshown, the user has not yet defined any life goals, so most of thefields are unpopulated and the default purpose pools are displayed.

The money pools listing 4302 shows accounts (see FIG. 4B) and lifegoals. Since no life goals have been defined in the example of FIG. 4C,the listing 4302 includes selections corresponding to a “Goal Summary”,three sample goals, and a “Create a Goal” option.

Since the “Goal Summary” selection is highlighted in the listing 4302,the pools map 4304 shows the three sample goals and the “Create a Goal”option in the summary. The pools map legend 4306 is shown directly abovethe pools map 4304. The pools summary is shown directly below the poolsmap 4304. The layout shown in FIG. 4C is merely one of many possiblelayouts that may be used to provide life goals functionality in a moneypools system.

FIG. 4D shows a screen display 4400 in which a life goal pool is beingcreated by a user. The screen display 4400 includes a money poolslisting 4402, a pools map 4404, a pools map legend 4406, and a poolcreation form 4408. In the example shown, the user has highlighted“college” as the life goal to be created (see the pools listing 4402 andthe pools map 4404).

To create a college pool, the user enters relevant information, such asthe year college money is needed (in this case, the year 2018), theannual amount of money likely to be needed (in this case, $40,000), andthe total number of years for which the annual amounts are to be paidout (in this case, four years). In this example, “college” is presentedas a predefined goal, for which the parameters (years, amounts, etc.)are predetermined, so that the user simply fills in the blanks to matchthe user's particular circumstance. “Retirement” and “2”^(d) Home” aretwo other predefined goals illustrated in the example of FIG. 4D. Thesepredefined goals may be established in the default purpose pools.Additional predefined goals could also be provided. The user may alsocreate a new goal, as shown by the “Create a Goal” selection in themoney pools listing 4402. Alternatively, the investor may want tocustomize a predefined goal.

FIG. 4E shows a screen display 4500 in which a user has created a“college” money 10 pool (see FIG. 4D) and is now assigning investmentsto that money pool. The screen display 4500 includes a money poolslisting 4502, a pools map 4504, a pools map legend 4506, a pool profile4508, a pool assignment form 4510, and a recommended approaches portion4512. The money pools listing 4502, pools map 4504, and pools map legend4506 are similar or identical to similar elements described withreference to earlier FIGS. 4C and 4D.

The pool profile 4508 provides a snapshot of the pool created in FIG.4D. In this example, the pool profile 4508 lists a target amount, therecommended amount to save per year, the probability of success, atarget rate of return, and a risk designation. Some of these parametersmight be assigned by the user, while others might be provided by thefinancial institution or another third-party service. For example, afinancial institution might maintain a risk rating system in which anaggressive, moderate, or conservative rating is assigned to everyavailable investment. As another example, the user might predict aprobable rate of return for a position, based on perceived trends ininterest rates, etc.

The pool assignment form 4510 allows the user to choose positions toassign to a particular pool. In the example of FIG. 4E, the collegemoney pool is active, so the user can assign to the college pool one ormore financial positions from one or more accounts (maintained by one ormore financial institutions). Here, the user has selected 100% of aposition with a ticker symbol “OAKLX” from the user's account #845,which corresponds to a value of $18,751. This amount is also reflectedin the pool profile 4508. If the user were to assign additionalpositions having positive values, they would also be shown in the poolprofile 4508, and would reduce the required savings per year. Therecommended approaches portion 4512 can be implemented to provide theuser with a choice of predetermined money pools that have beendetermined to be appropriate for funding a college education. Forexample, a financial institution employing the money pools system of thepresent application might track user tendencies and notice that manyusers assign blue-chip mutual funds to college education money pools. Ifthose assignments have been historically successful in achieving lifegoals that correspond to college, the recommended approaches mightinclude blue-chip mutual funds. This could be done automatically ormanually, or a combination of the two.

FIG. 4F shows a screen display 4600 for tracking life goals. The display4600 includes four main portions: a money pools listing 4602, a goalsmap 4604, a goal summary section 4606, and a goals tool section 4608.

The money pools listing 4602 shows various accounts and life goals asthe pools being tracked. Because “college” is highlighted in the moneypools listing 4602, the other portions of the display 4600 relate to thecollege money pool.

The goals map 4604 illustrates the user's investments that are assignedto goals. In this example, only the college goal has been created, withthe rest of the user's investments being unassigned. A goals legend 4610can be included to provide color-based tracking of whether or not theuser is on track to meet defined goals.

The goal summary section 4606 shows positions assigned to the collegegoal. In this example, the user has assigned positions OAKLX and CVTRXand $8,000 in cash to the college goal. These positions are from twodifferent accounts (#844 and #845). Other information that can beprovided in the goal summary section 4606 includes performance (e.g. acolor coded grading system), amount, risk, and investment strategies(see discussion below). Risk and performance can be determined by themoney pools system, such as by analyzing historical and present returns,or through a third party service.

The goals tool section 4608 includes a number of graphs that may beuseful to the user in evaluating progress toward the goal. The graphsillustrated in this example include total assets, savings, return, andrisk. Other tools for tracking and/or evaluating goals may also beprovided.

The user interface illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4F may also includefunctionality to allow tracking of investment strategies, as shown inFIGS. 4G-4I. For example, the tactical pool concepts described withreference to FIGS. 2A-2M may be presented graphically using theinterface shown in FIGS. 4G-4I. FIG. 4G illustrates two strategies thathave been used for a portion of the investor's assets (e.g. a littleover half of the assets are assigned to either “Advisor A” or “5-StarEquity.” FIG. 4G also shows how positions may be assigned to both goaland tactic/strategy pools (e.g. the position OAKLX is assigned to acollege pool and a 5-Star Equity strategy pool). FIG. 4H illustrates howa user may drill down to see individual positions in a particularstrategic pool. FIG. 41 shows a more complex pool strategy. In apreferred embodiment, the user interface of the present invention alsopresents the user with performance information, such as gain/loss data,relative risk levels, and others.

A Preferred Interface for Tracking Pool Performance by an Institution

Using system 10, a variety of reports may be generated by a financialinstitution or a third party via the institution interface 28. Thesereports include an assortment of statistics relating to a diversity ofinvestors. The reports are generally directed to a number of investorsand not one particular investor. Additionally, the reports may be usedas a survey to gauge statistics related to investor profile, investmentstrategy and/or investment portfolio, for example. The investor profilestatistics may include statistics relating to age, location, or netassets. The investment strategy statistics may contain statisticsrelated to a variety of investment philosophies including how manyinvestors are using pool based accounting. The investment portfoliostatistics may include the most common financial positions thatinvestors at a particular institution hold. Various example statisticsthat may be used in reports generated by an institution are as follows:

-   -   # clients, # client accounts, # clients with more than “x”        accounts    -   # clients using accounting pools    -   # clients % coverage of financial positions with tactical pools    -   # clients % coverage of financial positions with purpose pools    -   survey of tactical pools being used and their type    -   list of advisor tactical pool    -   list of purpose pools being used    -   asset size of purpose pools    -   % of purpose pools using a financial institution's product or        advisor    -   % of tactical pools using a financial institution's product,        advisor, 3^(rd) party partners, custom pools, or std    -   % breakdown of tactical pools and purpose pools in various        risk/grade ranges

FIG. 5A illustrates an example report 500 that a financial institutionor a third party may generate using system 10. Ten different reports aregenerated, each identified in column 502. Each report may reflectstatistics related to a subset, or sampling, of clients. A subset mayrelate to a variety of samplings such as account types, the length oftime a client has had an account, or an age range of clients, forexample. The number of clients within each subset is identified incolumn 504. The total amount of assets of the subset is identified incolumn 506. Statistics relating to the percentage of accounts usingtactical pools, the number of accounts using purpose pools, the amountof money in purpose pools, and the number of accounts using bothtactical and purpose pools are contained in respective columns 508, 510,512, and 514.

Another example report 516 is illustrated in FIG. 5B. Example report 516displays statistics related to the investment strategies of at least onefinancial institution's clients. Columns 518, 520, and 522 respectivelydisplay the amount of assets the subsets of clients have allocated theinvestment strategies (tactical pools) institution 201 offers. Column524 displays the amount of assets allocated to a particular advisor'sstrategy. Column 526 displays assets allocated to an investment strategyassociated with another institution 526. The report 516 may also includespecialized asset allocations, such as financial positions yielding highdividends, as is shown in column 528.

A financial institution may also use the investor interface 28 of system10 to evaluate the investment strategies (tactical pools) they offer.For example, report 530 contains investment strategies, the riskassociated with each strategy, the adjusted target, the actual return,and the assets allocated to a particular strategy in respective columns532, 534, 536, 538, and 540. The financial institution may also usereport 530 to evaluate other default tactical pools that may have beenset up using the default pools 32 function.

The financial institution or other third party may compile reports baseson the purpose pools that a sample of investors use. Example report 542,in FIG. 5D, illustrates purpose pools (representative of a sample ofinvestors) that may be tracked against assets allocated to a purposepool, an average risk score associated with the purpose pool, apercentage of the purpose pool's assets allocated to a particulartactical pool, the percentage of the purpose pools using a particularinstitution, and the percentage of purpose pools using a client createdtactical pool in respective columns 544, 546, 548, 550, 552, and 554.

Report 542 may be further refined to create report 556 as shown in FIG.5E. In report 556, a particular purpose pool, such as retirement, may beevaluated across variety of age brackets as is shown in column 558.Alternatively, report 556 could reflect age brackets associated with aselection of purpose pools.

The use of the institution interface 28, along with the reportfunctionality, allows many different types of statistical data to begathered and evaluated. This data may be valuable to an institution toevaluate their own investment strategies, to develop new investmentstrategies, and to realize investment trends.

Overall, the above examples and embodiments describe a system and amethod of operating a money pools system. It should be understood thatthe illustrated examples are examples only and should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the present invention. For example, more or fewerelements or components may be used in the block diagrams. In addition,the present invention can be practiced with hardware or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. Described software tools such as buttons,pull-down menus, links, and other user-interface tools may besubstituted for other tools. The claims should not be read as limited tothe described order or elements unless stated to that effect. Therefore,all examples and embodiments that come within the scope and spirit ofthe following claims and equivalents thereto are claimed as theinvention.

1. A computer-implemented method for allocating money pools comprisingthe steps of: storing, on computer readable storage media, a pluralityof financial account positions, wherein each of the plurality offinancial account positions represents a position held in acorresponding account so that the plurality of financial accountpositions is held in one or more accounts; allocating, via acomputerized director implemented on at least one computing device, afirst portion of the plurality of financial account positions to a firstmoney pool located within a first plurality of money pools associatedwith the first category, said first money pool communicatedelectronically, via a network, to at least one electronic data base;allocating, via the computerized director, a second portion of theplurality of financial account positions to a second money pool locatedwithin a second plurality of money pools associated with a secondcategory, said second money pool communicated electronically, via thenetwork, to the at least one electronic data base, wherein the secondportion shares at least one financial account position with the firstportion; communicating a graphic representation of the first and secondmoney pools, via the network, to at least a second computing device forvisible display on a display device operatively connected to the atleast second computing device.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: creating a third money pool, via thecomputerized director, that includes at least two money pools from thefirst plurality of money pools, wherein the third money pool includesthe first money pool, and wherein each money pool within the third moneypool shares a third pool reason, said third money pool communicatedelectronically, via the network, to the at least one electronic database; and creating a fourth money pool, via the computerized director,that includes at least two pools from the second plurality of pools,wherein the fourth money pool includes the second pool, and wherein eachpool within the fourth money pool share a fourth pool reason.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: creating a thirdmoney pool, via the computerized director, that includes a secondportion of the plurality of financial account positions, wherein thethird money pool is a second category.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first plurality of financial account positions includes up to 100%of the at least one financial account position and including at least athousand financial account positions owned by multiple users.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the pool performance data is a type ofanalysis selected from the group consisting of a rate of return, a riskscore, an income, a gain, and a loss.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinproviding pool performance data comprises the steps of: storing aninitial pool analysis corresponding to a first time; and determining arelative pool analysis corresponding to a second time.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein each of the plurality of financial account positionsincludes an asset pool of financial instruments selected from the groupconsisting of a stock, a bond, a mutual fund, an option position, cash,collectables, and real estate holdings.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the first category is selected from the group consisting of atactic/strategy type, a tax status type, a person/entity type, apurpose/goal type, and a liability.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first category is associated with a tactic/strategy, and wherein thefirst pool has a first pool reason that is selected from the groupconsisting of (a) financial account positions based on therecommendation of a financial advisor, (b) financial account positionsbased on the recommendation of a publication, and (c) financial accountpositions based on an financial instrument rating system.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first category is associated with a tax status,and wherein the first pool has a first pool reason that is selected fromthe group consisting of (a) a non-taxable status, (b) a taxable status,and (c) a tax-deferred status.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst category is associated with a person/entity, and wherein the firstpool has a first pool reason that is selected from the group consistingof (a) a family member, (b) a child, (c) a business, and (d) ahousehold.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first category isassociated with a purpose/goal, and wherein the first pool has a firstpool reason that is selected from the group consisting of (a) targetedfor a college expenditure; (b) targeted for a wedding expenditure; (c)targeted for retirement; (d) targeted for a real estate purchase; and(e) targeted for a motor vehicle purchase.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the first category is associated with a liability, and whereinthe first pool has a first pool reason that is selected from the groupconsisting of (a) a loan, (b) an interest payment, and (c) a financialloss.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: creating a fourthmoney pool, via the computerized director, that includes at least twopools from the first plurality of pools, wherein the fourth money poolincludes the third pool, and wherein each pool within the fourth moneypool share a fourth pool reason.
 15. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising creating an aspect that allows a user to view at least onepool selected from the first plurality of pools with respect to at leastone pool selected from the second plurality of pools via aggregatedfinancial account positions that are common to the first and secondplurality of pools.
 16. A non-transitory computer readable storagemedium comprising computer code that when executed by a processorperforms a method for allocating money pools comprising: storing aplurality of financial account positions, including at least a thousandfinancial account positions wherein each of the plurality of financialaccount positions is held in a corresponding account so that theplurality of financial account positions is held in one or moreaccounts; allocating, via a server a first portion of the plurality offinancial account positions to a first money pool located within a firstplurality of money pools associated with a first category, wherein thefirst portion constitutes a grouping of financial account positions thatshare a first pool reason, said first money pool communicatedelectronically, via a network, to at least one electronic data base;allocating, via the server a second portion of the plurality offinancial account positions to a second money pool located within asecond plurality of money pools associated with a second category,wherein the second portion constitutes a grouping of financial accountpositions that share a second pool reason, said second money poolcommunicated electronically, via the network, to at least one electronicdata base; creating, via the server a third money pool that includes atleast the first money pool and a third portion of the plurality offinancial account positions, wherein the third portion of financialaccount positions are located in the first category and not located inthe first money pool, and wherein all of the financial account positionslocated in the third money pool share a third pool reason, said thirdmoney pool communicated electronically, via the network, to the at leastone electronic data base; and deriving, via the server at least one ofthe first money pool, the third money pool, and the first category froma money pool template.
 17. The computer readable storage medium of claim16, further comprising: deriving the first category and the secondcategory from the money pool template.
 18. The computer readable storagemedium of claim 16, further comprising: deriving the first, second, andthird money pools from the money pool template.
 19. Acomputer-implemented method for allocating money pools comprising:storing, on computer readable media, a plurality of financial accountpositions including at least a thousand financial account positions;allocating, via a director implemented on at least one computing device,a first portion of the plurality of financial account positions to afirst money pool located within a first plurality of money poolsassociated with a first category; allocating, via the director, a secondportion of the plurality of financial account positions to a secondmoney pool located within a second plurality of money pools associatedwith a second category, and wherein the second portion shares at leastone financial account position with the first portion; and sharing atleast one of the first and second money pools with a money pool systemnetwork, wherein the at least one of the first and second money poolsand the at least one computing device correspond to a first local moneypool system, wherein the money pool system network includes a pluralityof networked local money pool systems.
 20. The method of claim 19,further comprising: creating a copy of the first money pool as a firstmoney pool template; and distributing the copy of the first money pooltemplate to a second local pool system on the pool system network.